People with alternate lifestyles can spend their holiday on a designated gay cruise rather than being part of a cruise full of people who don’t share the same interests and way of life.

There are travel agencies and tour operators that are gay-owned and operated that cater exclusively to gay and lesbian people looking for the best way to spend their holiday.

Gay cruises are one of the most popular gay holidays. Some of the largest cruise lines in the world like Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Holland America, and many others are available for all-gay cruises.

There are typically two categories of these cruises.

The first is the type where a gay tour company works with a cruise line and takes over an entire ship for a week.

The second style of cruise for gays involves smaller groups of gays taking part in mainstream cruises.

Gay Environment CruisesOn this type of cruse, the entire cruise experience is revamped into a completely gay or lesbian event. These are often referred to as “gay environment” cruises. With these cruises, it is not the destination that is important but the all-gay environment that the travel company produces for them.

Many gay people find that being in a wonderful environment at sea with hundreds of other gays provides more freedom, excitement, and relaxation than a mainstream holiday. In fact, most people who experience their first gay cruise are pleasantly surprised by the comfort of getting away from their usual predominantly heterosexual environments. A gay cruise is more than a break from work, but is also a break from the stress of being gay in a heterosexual world.

These specially designed cruises do include some of the sillier, campier and more extroverted characteristics associated with the gay lifestyle, but there are just as many more sophisticated, relaxed, and serious activities. You can attend a costume party one evening and a financial planning seminar the next day. There are group activities or opportunities for relaxing beach outings or dinners for two.

The ships used for gay cruises are generally the moderately priced ships. More of the higher end ships are occasionally being used, but most people don’t consider the accommodations as important for an all-gay holiday.

Gay Groups On Straight CruisesThis is considered the “gayish” alternative to an all-gay cruise. Gay groups on mainstream cruises run anywhere from 6 to 250 passengers on a ship that can accommodate 3,000. While these arrangements don’t provide the full gay experience of a “gay environment” cruise, you can still make friends and find people to dine with who are compatible. The experience on board the ship is usually no different than on a standard cruise. But cruises with gay groups will often have a few events especially with those passengers in mind.

Gay group cruise may be a better actual cruise experience since they have more to offer in the way of departure choices and ship types. You will find a bigger variety of itineraries on gay group cruises as well.

RSVP 2011 Grand Mediterranean Cruise

–About–

By Alicia Chewe – Each of the two styles of gay cruise provides different experiences, but each can provide a relaxing and enjoyable holiday. Cruise Holidays. Article by Alicia Chewe, Alicia is a travel writer who specializes in cruise holidays.